Tuesday, November 25, 2003

Withdrawal is
surrender, and surrender we will not. Our flag is blue and white, and that blue
makes all the difference in the world. Abandonment and transfer of Jews from Yesha is
tantamount to the removal of the blue from our flag.

From
David Wilder

I planned on writing today about one of the most
extraordinaryShabbatotI’ve ever experienced. After all, it’s not every
week you participate in a HebronShabbattogether with another
25,000 Jews. Friday night, it was virtually impossible to get intoMa’arat HaMachpela- the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. It
was simply packed. There wasn’t room to move inside. And outside, in the
courtyard, thousands of people participated in Shabbatevening prayers. It was a sight to behold.

So too, Saturday. Thousands upon thousands of people walking the streets,
visiting the different neighborhoods - it was really unbelievable.

However, current events will not let me dwell on the wonders of this pastShabbatin Hebron. There are other matters that are more pressing.

While in the United States, I heard rumors that Ariel Sharon was planning
another landmark address, Herzliya II, as it was called. During the first
Herzliya speech, in December 2002, Sharon officially accepted the ideas behind the
Roadmap, culminating in a fully sovereign Palestinian state. Realizing that the
Palestinian terrorist authority does not have the desire or ability to fulfill
even the most minimum requirements in order to convince a majority of Israelis
to back this arrangement, Sharon is planning the next stage in his farcical
premiership. This is being labeled Herzliya II. Then, it hit the headlines.

According to media reports, Sharon is fed up with the current deadlock and is
looking for a way out. He promised Israelis peace and security and hasn’t yet
been able to deliver the goods. Without a ‘peace partner’ it’s difficult to
negotiate. So, Sharon has decided to go it alone. Latest accounts say that
Sharon is planning a unilateral withdrawal of Israeli forces to the vicinity of
the new ‘wall’ (which seems to be known to some as the Messiah in disguise).
This unilateral withdrawal includes the destruction of ‘isolated settlements,’
most probably in Gaza - like Netzarim, Morag, and Kfar Darom. However other
communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza have not been ruled out. Jews evicted
from their homes are to be transferred to new settlements, this time in the
Negev.

Other communities are scheduled to be ‘moved,’ creating ‘settlement blocks.’

This is, in brief, what has been floating around in recent days.

Now, it’s important to understand why Ariel Sharon is even considering such
measures:

Ariel Sharon is facing massive legal problems in Israel. He is likely on the
verge of being indicted for illegal financial dealings, some of which concern
campaign funding, illicit loans, and possible bribery. Should he be indicted,
Sharon will have to resign. But Sharon knows that the Left understands that
they will never be able to evict Jews fromYesha’ only a ‘right-wing’
bulldozer like Ariel Sharon, who was responsible for much of the development of
Judea, Samaria and Gaza will be able to take it apart. He has experience ‘ he
did it in Sinai. Sharon also knows that the decisions taken concerning his
future political life and tenure in the Prime Minister’s residence lie in the
hands of the Left. In other words, if he is a ‘good boy’ and practices what
they preach, they will, more than likely, leave him alone. In other words, he
will tradeEretz Yisraelfor political survival.

Reason number two: George Bush and the White House. Ariel Sharon knows that
George Bush is a good friend of Israel. All things considered, he’s probably
the best friend Israel has had in the White House in decades. He also knows
that George W. is in trouble. Iraq, dead American soldiers, and continuing
world terror is ruffling feathers. The elections, a year away, are already
catching headlines. The campaign has begun. Sharon also knows that the
democratic alternatives to Bush spell catastrophe for Israel. So, Sharon is
interested not only in saving himself; he’s also interested in saving George W’s
skin. So, he is willing to trade pieces ofEretz Yisrael for
Bush.

Reason number three: Yossi Beilin, Shimon Peres and Geneva. The ‘Geneva Accords’
initiated by Yossi Beilin are covered with the fingerprints of several
well-known players. First on the list is Shimon Peres, who was Yossi Beilin’s
teacher. The first big Peres production, ‘Oslo’, was such a hit that he decided
to produce a follow-up. Not being able to sponsor a ‘by-pass’ plan to a
government that he still hopes to sit in, Peres assisted Beilin into Geneva,
another cataclysmic suicide plan for the State of Israel. Geneva includes the
worst of the worst-case scenarios conjured up since the commencement of Oslo,
leaving Israel as a virtual nonentity.

Another player in the Geneva fiasco is undoubtedly the European Union. Last
week, Beilin and Company put two million copies of the Geneva Accords into the
Israeli mail. Do you have any idea how much it costs to print up and send two
million copies of anything’ I don’t have exact costs, but it is a tremendous
amount of money. I am certain that the financial backer of this escapade is the
EU. I might also surmise that the EU is receiving a great deal of that money
from another power broker ‘ very likely Saudi Arabia. So from the Saudis to the
Europeans to Beilin. What a team.

But please, do not underestimate these players. The Geneva Accords are exerting
overwhelming pressure on Ariel Sharon. These accords are being backed by world
media. Foreign governments are starting to get involved, viewing them as an
alternative to the dying Roadmap. And in Israel, again, the Left is initiating
something solid, as opposed to the waffling of the other side, whoever they are.
Sharon remembers only too well the pressures that brought Ehud Barak’s cowardly
flight from Lebanon. He knows that the name of the game is not to sit on the
fence; rather, it is to grab onto something solid and pave the way. It makes no
difference which direction the path goes in ‘ to heaven or to hell. What is
important is to offer an alternative. And that is what Sharon is doing.

Ariel Sharon has not despaired of several dreams: He still wants to dispel the ‘war-monger’
image he picked up during the Lebanese War in the 1980s. He would also like to
be remembered as a statesman and as the ‘great peacemaker.’ And last, but not
least, he would like another term in the office of the Prime Minister, despite
his age (and seemingly deteriorating mental health).

All of this adds up to transferring Jews, destroying communities, and
abandoningEretz Yisrael.

The big question is, of course, what we can do to prevent this madness. There
are no easy answers. We have to make a lot of noise, and let this government
know that the People of Israel will not allow Ariel Sharon or anyone else to
chop upEretz Yisrael, we will not allow appeasement to terrorists,
and we will not commit communal suicide. The very fact that these ideas are
being floated around have already caused immense damage to Israel. The idea of
withdrawal at all, but especially in the middle of a war, is unthinkable. This
is exactly what our enemy wants and we must not give it to him.

Withdrawal is surrender, and surrender we will not. Our flag is blue and white,
and that blue makes all the difference in the world. Abandonment and transfer
of Jews fromYeshais tantamount to the removal of the blue from
our flag.

Monday, November 3, 2003

When I
opened up the word processor this morning I hadn’t decided whether to write
about the battle over Netzarim or the new European survey which determined that
Israel tops the list: Israel is the greatest danger to world peace.

Then I
opened the newspaper – not generally a good way to start the day. I’d advise
anyone wanting to start the day with a smile to avoid the printed press, and if
possible, the radio (and TV) too. It certainly won’t add anything to your mood.

I don’t
have any choice – it’s my job. I skimmed the first section of the Jerusalem
Post and turned by attention to the Comment and Opinions section. Sigh; Sigh;
Sigh;

Goell
differentiates between two kinds of
‘settlements’ – those within the public consensus and those on the other
side. For example, French Hill, Gilo, Ramot, Ramat Eshkol, to name a few, fall
within public consent. They are no longer considered to be settlements, despite
that fact that prior to the 1967 Six day War, they were on the ‘other side of
the border.’ Why? “…Because such a large number of Israelis actually went to
live there and invested their lives and their own money there.”

However,
according to Goell, the rest of Judea, Samaria and Gaza “was never within the
Israeli consensus.” For this reason, he writes that “eventually many
settlements-but certainly not all-will have to be vacated. Annexation of all the territories has never been in the
cards. The absence of a consensus means that most Israelis will come to
actively oppose the further sacrifice of soldiers in defense of indefensible –
and militarily purposeless – outposts.”

Goell
also mentions a document published by the Israel Democracy Institute called,
‘The Political and Social Significance of Evacuating Settlements in Judea,
Samaria and Gaza’ [http://www.idi.org.il/english/catalog.php?pdid=279&did=40].
This position paper, written by none other than a kippa-wearing Jew, Yair
Sheleg, is premised on the assumption that Israel will evict Jews from their
homes throughout Yesha. The report discusses political and social implications
of dealing with a positive decision to transfer Israelis from their homeland.
Of course it includes various scenarios, such as Israeli ‘settlers’ opening
fire on their brethren during a forces evacuation, preemptive ‘Israeli terror,’
and a ‘civil rebellion.’ The author also takes upon himself the role of
moderator, providing solutions to expected problems: “On account of these
dangers, the report includes a recommended policy that could temper the
expected damage.”

The
concept of Jewish transfer is not new, but, as with the above examples, has
again raised its ugly head, making waves in the public domain. Following the
killing of three soldiers by terrorists just outside the Netzarim in Gush Katif
less than two weeks ago, left wing politicians claimed that there are too many
soldiers guarding too few people in the community. Shinui party Justice minister Yosef ‘Tommy’
Lapid went so far as to suggest a ‘deal’ with the terrorists: their promise to
disband terror organizations in return for an Israeli guarantee to uproot
Netzarim within ten months. (This morning Maariv newspaper reported that
right-wing members of Shinui described this proposal as ‘spitting in the face
of the party.’)

Let’s
say that there really are too many soldiers guarding too few people. The
solution is simple. Allow more Jews to move into Yesha. In Hebron, for example,
it can literally take years for the Jewish community to receive building
permits for construction on Jewish-owned land in the city. Arabs, on the other
hand, do whatever they so desire. Presently our next door neighbor enemies are
carrying out major renovations in neighborhoods adjacent to the Jewish
neighborhoods and next to Ma’arat HaMachpela. They are restoring ruins,
unoccupied for decades. They have no proof of ownership and no permits, but the
work continues. Why are we forbidden from constructing freely on land we
own? Why is it virtually impossible to buy property from Arabs interested in
selling? Why won’t the Israeli government allow us to live in housing legally
purchased from Arabs in Hebron over the years? Why is it that any money
budgeted to Yesha is headline news but financial aid to Kibbutzim or millions
of shekels to left-wing sponsored culture, including anti-Israel – pro-Arab
plays and movies are automatically OK?

However,
I’m not entirely sure that the above assumption is correct. Today there are
almost 250,000 Jews living in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Over the past year
alone, the population has grown 5.6 percent. Since the Oslo War began, the
population has risen in the vicinity of fifteen percent. This, during the most
difficult three years the country has known since the establishment of the
State. This, while Jews throughout the country, but especially in Yesha, have
been targeted, killed and wounded by the hundreds. This, while Yesha’s
population has been villainized by the Israeli left, by the media and by most
of the world. This can be most recently viewed through the sunglasses of an
article printed in today’s HaAretz newspaper, titled, ‘American spy chiefs want
more pressure on settlements’
[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/356378.html ]. The subtitle tells
the story: ‘To relieve hostility towards the U.S., calm situation in Iraq.’

In
other words, my presence in Hebron, my daughter’s presence in Gush Katif, my
son’s presence in the Shomron – we are responsible, together with another
240,000 Jews, for the fact that Americans are being killed in Iraq. We are
responsible for continued terrorism against the United States. Of course, the
message is clear: Israeli settlement of Yesha is ultimately responsible for
9/11, and the inescapable conclusion is that the ‘war’ President George Bush
declared against terrorism is actually a war against the Jews.

Nu, so
what’s new?

To Yosef
Goell, to Tommy Lapid, to the author of the above-mentioned recommendations,
Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research, Carl Ford, to CIA
director George Tenet, to Secretary of State Colin Powell, to all of the
others, in Israel, in Europe, and around the world, I have a surprise
revelation for you. Actually it’s not so new – it goes back quite a ways. This
coming Saturday we will read the third Torah portion of the New Year – called,
in Hebrew, Lech Lecha, which means “Go – You Go.” This was a command given by
G-d to Abraham, telling him to leave his home ‘for the Land I will show you.’
That land being, of course, Eretz Yisrael. Later in the portion we read of the
covenant decreed between G-d and Abraham, a covenant between G-d and not only
Abraham, but also Abraham’s offspring, promising that the children of Israel
will inherit the Land, the Land of Israel, an eternal bond, from almost the
beginning of time, to today.

In
reply to Goell’s consensus complaints, one must take into consideration not
only the millions of Jews who now live in Israel, but the generations upon
generations of Jews who lived in Israel, from the days of Abraham onward,
the generations of Jews who were expelled from the Land, the generations of
Jews who dared dream of living in Israel, in Jerusalem, in Shechem, in Beit El,
in Hebron. The consensus is the mass conscious of the Jewish people, Jews who
lived with visions of Temple Mount,
Ma’arat HaMachpela, Joseph’s Tomb and Rachel’s Tomb – Jews who marveled with the
thought of working the land and walking the land and Jews who died with ‘Next
Year in Jerusalem’ on their lips, in their souls. This is the consensus whose ideals will be
fulfilled, whose dreams will be lived. This is the consensus of the people of
Israel living in Eretz Yisrael. The real consensus.

About Me

David Wilder began working with the Jewish Community
of Hebron in 1994. He served as the English spokesman for the community for 21
years, granting newspaper, television and radio interviews internationally. He has
written hundreds of columns, posted on internet and appearing on websites and
in newspapers around the world. He
published a booklet of questions and answers about Hebron, titled, “Breaking the Lies.” Additionally he has acted in the capacity of community photographer
for over 17 years. He has published several ebooks of his photographs and
articles, available on Amazon. His blogs on the Jerusalem Post and at IsraelNational News have been read by over a half a million people.

Presently executive director of Eretz.Org, David represents
and assists several organizations, including the Neve Avraham ChildrenTreatment Center in Kiryat Arba-Hebron. He continues to conduct tours of
Hebron's Jewish Community and speaks to numerous groups in Hebron. He occasionally
travels abroad, speaking at various functions, explaining the true realities of
today's Israeli-Arab He is also a popular lecturer in Hebron, dealing with
diverse groups, including interfaith delegations, from around the world.

David Wilder has been in Israel for 40 years. He is
married to Ora, a ‘Sabra,’ for 36 years. They lived in Kiryat Arba for 17 years
and have resided at Beit Hadassah in Hebron for seventeen years. They have
seven children, five of whom are married and have many grandchildren.